Snapshot :: January

It seems to be a growing trend for photographers to blog about their goals, especially at the beginning of the New Year.  I think this is a great idea for the photographer and the client.  As a business owner, we have to set goals and plan on how to achieve them in order to be successful.  After all, to me, the definition of success is “achieving your goals.”  It’s also beneficial for our clients, fans and friends who follow the growth of our businesses.  If it weren’t for their support, we may not ever achieve our goals.  So, I’d like to share my goals for 2012.  However, instead of just posting the list of unsurmountable to-dos and never looking back, I’d like to do it a little differently.  At the beginning of every month (and I guess this would be my first goal) I plan to post a goal snapshot post.  In these posts, I’ll write about what progress I’ve made on my goals and what I plan to do in the near future to continue working towards accomplishing them.  Along with the post, I thought it be a fun idea to include a snapshot of myself.  A self portrait, if you will, of me that also reflects a self portrait of my business.  It’s just one small step towards another one of my goals which is to share more of my personal life on my blog, so clients and fans can get to know me better.  Besides, seeing as I’m always the one behind the camera, it’d be nice to end up with at least 12 portraits of myself by the end of the year.  I must say, I’m really excited about all the goals and plans I intend to conquer in the next year…so much in fact, I barely slept last night!  I can only hope my clients, fans, friends and family enjoy the ride.

2012 GOALS

• Blog more – this should come naturally as many of my goals will lead to more blogging anyways.
• Continue to work with local shelters and pet-related events – just doing what I can to help the animals in need.
• Have a booth at two events – Paws in the Park has already been booked, so I’m already preparing for that one.  The San Diego Pet Expo would be the ultimate event to have a booth, and it’s not until October so I have some time.
• Improve Model Call advertising - it can be tricky to find the perfect model with only a month to scout, shoot, edit & submit.
• Submit more images to Dog Fancy Magazine – submitting is one thing, getting published is another, but I’ll still strive for that cover shot.
• Join PPSDC – Professional Photographers of San Diego County meet once a month to discuss everything going on in our industry in San Diego.
• Improve my photography skills and techniques – never stop doing this one.
• Get my business finances organized – ugh!
• Design and create a new website – keeping an updated portfolio is part of the growing process and very important.
• Share more of my personal life on my Blog – it all started when I got married, and I hope my life is interesting enough to hold your attention, haha.
• Get my new last name changed on everything it needs to be changed on – this process is so long,…wouldn’t it be nice if our husbands could do this for us?
• Define my product line and pricing – one of the most difficult things to do is value your work and products while making clients happy.
• Get 200 more Facebook followers – and learn how to effectively market to my target audience using Facebook.
• Sell my old gear & buy new gear – It’s time to get rid of my backup camera, turn my current camera into my backup, and buy a new one.  Canon 5D Mark II & the EF 50mm Macro lens look pretty good right about now.
• Get more involved with the pet community – I’m a bit on the shy side, and it’s probably the trait that holds me back the most…gotta get over it and just say hi.
• Submit to a Photo Stock Agency – I started doing this 4 years ago and find it not worth my time…until I randomly received a check in the mail for all the images of mine that people purchased.
• Continue to grow my client base – I can never have too many clients.
• Run a half marathon – this is totally not business related (but, again, just sharing personal stuff).  I’ve already signed up and am in training for the San Diego Half Marathon in March.
• Get pregnant – Ahhh!  Kind of scary, but hopefully by the end of the year, me & the hubby will be financially and emotionally stable and ready to grow our family.

Well, I think that’s enough to keep me busy and growing throughout 2012.  I hope my clients and fans appreciate my efforts and enjoy what I have to share with and offer them as the next years flies by